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Postgraduate certificate in Education Student Teachers’ perceptions about communities of practice at schools : work integrated learning reflections
Get PDFAbstract: Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) student teachers participate in work-integrated learning to develop their professional skills by critically reflecting on their school experience. This study examined how PGCE student teachers perceived Communities of Practice during their work-integrated learning. This study adopted a generic qualitative research design and involved a group of PGCE student teachers at a South African university. Data, which was thematically analysed, was generated by means of reflective group discussions and summaries. The study was underpinned by the Cultural Historical Activity Theory as the underlying theoretical framework. The study revealed that student teachers perceived Communities of Practice as a sustainable and collaborative means through which their professional practices can be enhanced. In addition, Communities of Practice are viewed as an effective catalyst to strengthen school management in its broadest sense. Contextually appropriate recommendations for strengthening initial pre-service teacher training within the broader South African context are provided
Understand the state and the role of cooperatives in South Africa : a profiling approach
Get PDFAbstract: A study was conducted in the Gauteng Province - South Africa- to profile the formal and informal SMMEs, as well as the cooperatives. The current study analyses and presents the findings about the state and the role of cooperatives in the province. A brief overview of the SMMEs in South Africa has been provided, while the history of the cooperatives has been unveiled. The study adopted a descriptive approach as a design, while data collection was done through interviews with the use of the questionnaire. Findings reveal that SMMEs lack government support in general, while cooperatives suffer a number of challenges including lack of start-up and growth strategies in particular. The true profile of the cooperatives has been exposed through a number of variables such as gender, source of income, location of the business, success rates among others. The study ends with recommendations geared towards government interventions and necessary training to up the required skills
The perceptions of Life Orientation educators’ responsiveness to diverse sexual identities
Get PDFAbstract: The study deals with the perceptions of Life Orientation educator’s responsiveness to diverse sexual identities. The research focuses on Life Orientation as a core platform for HIV and sexuality education. This study is concerned with the challenges that are faced by diverse sexual identities and the educators’ experiences in teaching HIV and sexuality education to Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and queer in schools. The Life Orientation (LO) curriculum, educational policies are discussed to understand the role of educators in teaching diverse sexual identities about HIV prevention in schools. The Literature review deals with the importance of teaching Life Orientation (LO), the reason for teaching it and the challenges faced by Life Orientation educators in teaching diverse sexual identities in schools. It further uses constructivism theory, social learning theory to allude the perceptions of Life Orientation educators with regard to learning of diverse sexual identities. The study uses qualitative research to collect data and participants are Life Orientation Educators from different schools in the Gauteng Department of Education, Region D 14. All interviews were conducted after contact time outside of the school due to COVID-19 compliance so there was no need for permission at the schools. Themes were used in analysis of data. The study recommends and concluded that educators teaching Life Orientation do not know or understand Life Orientation curriculum since they do not teach the whole curriculum but choose certain content which suits their needs but not learners.M.Ed. (Inclusive Education
Detecting land degradation in Southern Africa using Time Series Segment and Residual Trend (TSS-RESTREND)
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The alignment and impact of the TVET college National Certificate (Vocational) Tourism curriculum on graduate skills and employability
Get PDFAbstract: The National Certificate (Vocational) (NC(V)) Tourism programme is amongst the many NC(V) programmes that were introduced and implemented at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in South Africa to address skills shortages caused by outdated and poor quality TVET programmes through the provision of a curriculum that is responsive to industry needs. This study intended to determine if and how the curriculum of the NC(V) Tourism programme is aligned with the real workplace skills of the tourism industry, and how it impacts on graduate employability. The theoretical framework for this study is andragogy, known as the art of facilitating adult learning. TVET college students are being trained to join the world of work and as such, the learning environment should facilitate their transition into being self-directed, responsible adults. This qualitative study followed a phenomenological design, set within an interpretivist research paradigm. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore and interpret the views of the NC(V) Tourism lecturers, the placement officer, Culture Arts Tourism Hospitality and Sports Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA), workplace supervisors, and Tourism graduates. The findings indicate that the curriculum of the NC(V) Tourism programme is laden with an overload of relevant, but repetitive theoretical knowledge, and the implementation of the curriculum does not integrate practice into theory as is required in any vocational programme that is intended to equip graduates with occupation specific knowledge, skills, and competencies. Also, the NC(V) Tourism graduates are not trained in any global distribution system (GDS), which is a highly sought after competency in the retail travel industry. The NC(V) Tourism lecturers are aware of the poorly implemented curriculum; however, they are restricted by time constraints and a lack of basic resources such as updated teaching and learning materials and a fully equipped simulator room; additionally, they teach to meet the summative assessment requirements. Although there is a workplace-based experience (WBE) programme for NC(V) Level 4 students to bridge the gap between theory and practice, its effectiveness is questionable due to the short 10-day duration, and some employers not exposing students to tourism related duties and responsibilities. The WBE programme, which could be highly effective if properly planned and implemented has been reduced to a mere formality, without proper follow up and feedback vi processes in place. The study shows that the lack of both work readiness training and support given to graduates, negatively impacts on the employability of graduates. This study also established that employers in the tourism industry are not knowledgeable about the NC(V) Tourism curriculum, furthermore, they prefer Report 191 graduates over NC(V) graduates, negatively impacting graduates’ employability. This suggests that there is little to no partnerships and/or communication between the private sector and the providers of education and training, and that the private sector does not endorse the NC(V) Tourism programme. This dissertation gives recommendations on how improvements can be brought about to benefit the graduates and the industry.M.Ed. (Education and Curriculum Studies
Improving the combustion properties of corncob biomass via torrefaction for solid fuel applications
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Foundation phase learners’ self-realisation of their socio-economic status
Get PDFAbstract: South Africa is a country that has been dealing with high rate of unemployment and unequal access to basic resources, even in the era of democracy. In the first quarter of 2020, the country faced a pandemic, Corona virus (COVID- 19). This resulted in a lot of people losing their daily income and a lot of companies losing money because of the lockdown that was introduced. Since parent’s socio-economic status affects children, it is important to determine whether young school-going children are aware of their socio-economic status. This study aimed at determining whether foundation phase learners were aware of their socioeconomic status. Secondly, to describe their subjective experiences of belonging to a specific socioeconomic status class. Based on the findings, to make recommendations based on the messages that the children internalised. The researcher used a qualitative multiple case study design and purposive sampling method was used in choosing the participants of the study. Twelve learners from three different quintile schools were chosen; four learners from quintile 1 school, four other learners from quintile 3 school and the last four learners from quintile 5 school. Data was collected through sorting-out activity, individual interviews and collages. The findings from the study were analysed through Creswell’s (2009) qualitative content analysis. Since the study was aimed at describing and exploring the experiences of participants, a social constructivist paradigm was used. The findings revealed that grade 1 and 3 learners were aware of their socioeconomic status, however, their awareness differed in terms of their grade and the quintile ranking of schools. Based on the findings, it was recommended that early childhood development education should be implemented in the learner’s curriculum that focuses on teaching learners about the importance of self-worth. It was also recommended that different education stakeholders and the learners’ family and community should work together in empowering learners from different socioeconomic status families.M.Ed. (Educational Psychology
Utilising XAPI data and learning analytics to determine patterns of use in a corporate learning environment to personalise learning
Get PDFAbstract: The purpose of the study was to explore the use xAPI data and learning analytics to determine general patterns of use on a corporate learning system to create personalised learning offerings. The study was based on a case study of a professional services organisation that had recently implemented an extended learning system. The sample data was made up of learning data extracted from the Learner Records Store. The patterns in the data were examined to understand how learners interacted with the learning system. The results supported the role of using learning data to adapt learning offerings to better suit what the learners need. Overall, the study demonstrated that the use of learning data provides valuable insights to learning and development personnel in their efforts to provide relevant online learning offerings.M.Ed. (Information and Communication Technology in Education
Exploring the potential greywater use in a typical microcosmic commercial area of South Africa
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The impacts of water quality on the residential areas of Emfuleni Local Municipality : a case study of Rietspruit river catchment
Get PDFAbstract: It is commonly known that South Africa has prominent legislations and policies in place to govern the protection of water resources. However, poor management of water and lack of sanitation services is evident in some parts of the country. The failure of some municipalities to provide adequate sanitation services has been prevailing in less developed areas resulting in serious predicaments on the health of the affected individuals amongst other effects. Various interventions such as the upgrade of wastewater infrastructure have been put in place. However, notable failures in implementing sustainable wastewater management strategies remains a serious concern. The aim of the present study is to assess the environmental and socio-economic impacts of wastewater in the residential areas of Emfuleni Local Municipality (hereafter referred to as ‘Emfuleni’), Gauteng Province, South Africa. To this end, questionnaires were used to collect information on various demographic variables of both households and small businesses along with their water sources, levels of water quality awareness and various effects of exposure to poor water quality. The collected data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential methods of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 to assess the influence of various demographic variables on key opinions and other data sets. In total, 260 respondents participated in this study. Firstly, the analysis of water sources utilized by the residents of Emfuleni revealed that every household had a tap inside their yard which is considered as the safest source of water. However, the availability of tap water cannot circumvent the outcry of local residents with regards to sewage spills running on their streets. The majority of participants complained of skin rashes and diarrhea developed by children who make contact with the untreated sewage when playing on the streets. Furthermore, the issue of bad odor worsening some of their health conditions such as asthma was reportedly raising great fear in dealing with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Surprisingly, although all areas investigated were classified as townships, the differences of wastewater impact as per the area of residence were significant at 99% confidence interval. Moreover, the differences on the participants’ willingness to pay for water services as per the area of residence were also significant at 99% confidence interval. Collectively, the findings in the present study demonstrate how socioeconomic variables such as area of residence influence the occurrence and experience of wastewater impacts which can advise on feasible and holistic measures to tackle water pollution issues in various townships under Emfuleni.M.Sc. (Environmental Management
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